Heretofore, various shading sun visors are mounted on the ceilings of automobile cabins along front and side windshields for protecting occupants against glares.
A sun visor of the above type has a plate-like core (sun visor core) as a shading member and a support shank by which the sun visor core is angularly movably supported on the ceiling. When not in use, the sun visor is retracted out of the way with the sun visor core held against the ceiling. When in use, the sun visor is rotated to depend around the support shank and brought into a usage position between the occupant and the front (side) windshield, and is used as an anti-glare member for partly blocking the eyesight of the occupant.
The sun visor core is designed as an interior finishing member with its surface covered with a surface covering such as of fabric, leather, or the like. The sun visor is disposed in the passenger cabin at a position that can easily be reached by the occupant for the convenience of the occupant, for use with various accessories including a vanity mirror, a ticket holder, a clutter-catcher, etc. Such various s accessories are occasionally added to the sun visor core.
Attempts have been made to improve the above conventional sun visor for better use as the anti-glare member, better design as the interior finishing member, and better convenience in combination with various accessories.
The inventors have conducted a detailed analysis of sound field environments in the passenger cabins of automobiles. The inventors have found as a result of the analysis that since sun visors of the above type are positioned very closely to the head of the occupant though their projected area into the passenger cabin is comparatively small, they have a possibility to function appropriately as an acoustic absorbent for improving the sound field environment around the occupant. As a consequence, the inventors have proposed in JP-A No. 2004-090824 a sun visor structure of high air permeability for significantly improving the sound field environment around the automobile occupant to make the automobile cabin quiet.